After four years of drought, California’s snowpack levels have already been declared the lowest since records began about a century ago. Now with new information gleaned from tree-ring data, scientists think that California’s snowpack is the lowest it’s been in over 500 years—and maybe even 1000.

Space isn't having a great few months — from the exploding mishaps of Orbital Science's Antares rocket, to the terrible tragedy of Virgin Galactic's test flight, and the yay-but-oh-shit rollercoaster that's been the ESA's comet landing, things aren't going entirely to plan. This isn't without precedent, though: if you…

For decades, scientists have feared the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet—a vast swath of ice that could unleash a slow but unstoppable 10-foot rise in sea levels if it melted. So here is today's terrible news: we now know the ice sheet is melting. And there's pretty much nothing we can do about it.

It's probably nothing, but Utah's Dugway Proving Ground — where the Army tests biological weapon defense systems — is on lockdown and no one can leave. "We are working [...] to resolve a serious concern within the Test Area." (Updated)

• A security researcher published code that is capable of bricking corrupting Windows boot sectors on most HP and Compaq laptops. That doesn't sound too good. [Slashdot]
• Microsoft continues to rename everything in sight, this time folding IPTV, HD DVD, and Media Center into one group called Connected TV. [News.com]…